This post details our plan, which keeps most days around fifteen miles and ensures that every night we have somewhere confirmed to sleep (hopefully with warm showers!).  We are walking Offa’s Dyke North to South and in most cases we will be staying on campsites, with a few exceptions, that are dog friendly and easy to access from Offa’s Dyke.

Leg 1 – Mon 5th April – Prestatyn to Rhaullt

8.7 miles – 1493 ft

We are travelling up to North Wales on Bank Holiday Monday, and I was keen to make a start on the first day to clear Rhaullt (the first mile or so is through the town, which would be a nightmare with the dog, plus the local campsites seem quite expensive).

So on the first day we are having a gentle start and walking to Rhaullt.  We will be staying at the Penisar Mynydd Caravan Park (£22 for two people in two tents with a dog), which is about a mile off the route. This was the only campsite to ask for a deposit – but then it is a bank holiday!

Leg 2 – Tue 6th April – Rhaullt to Bodfari

8.7 miles – 2012 ft

Our second day is also quite short to the other side of Bodfari. I believe there may be a campsite near Bodfari, but we will be camping in the garden of @gwenoldy, who runs a holiday cottage nearby, who has kindly offered her hospitality (showers and a cooked breakfast ).

Leg 3 – Wed 7th April – Bodfari to Gweryd Lakes

13.8 miles – 3302 ft

On our third day, the mileage starts cranking up, as we head out into the Clwydian Range. We will be staying at Gweryd Lakes (£4.50 pp + £2 for the dog), tucked between the hills near three lakes. There is an on-site cafe, and the owners suggested they would be happy to open slightly earlier for us to have a cooked breakfast before leaving in the morning!

Leg 4 – Thurs 8th April – Gweryd Lakes to Llangollen

13 miles – 2140ft

On the fourth day we will be walking through the last bit of the Clwydian Range, before weaving between the mountain peaks into Llangollen. We will be staying at Tower Farm (£5 – about a mile from Offa’s Dyke (and slightly below).

Leg 5 – Fri 9th April – Llangollen to Trefonen

15.8 miles – 2974ft

The fifth day, where we pass through the grounds of Chirk Castle, leaves us stuck in Trefonen. There are several bed and breakfasts locally, but no campsites! Fortunately @JabberingJude has kindly come to the rescue and has offered us space in her garden – she lives about 6 miles from Trefonen, so this is the only day on the walk when the support team will be needed to give us a lift!

Leg 6 – Sat 10th April – Trefonen to Pool Quay

15.4 miles – 1242 ft

After getting a lift back to Trefonen, and following the course of the River Severn, the sixth day ends at Pool Quay – a historical hamlet just North of Welshpool. Again there are no campsites within walking distance however, after an email to the local pub – The Quay, it transpires that they are happy for people to camp on the grass outside the pub (and they are even happy for us to use the pub showers!).

I can almost taste the ale and home cooked food!

Leg 7 – Sun 11th April – Pool Quay to Brompton Crossroads

15 miles – 2087 ft

Just South of the Brompton Crossroads there is the Mellington Hall Caravan Park, just off Offa’s Dyke. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, they aren’t currently taking bookings over weekends. Fortunately they have very kindly offered to open especially for us on the Sunday!

Leg 8 – Mon 12th April – Brompton Crossroads to Knighton

13.5 miles – 3370 ft

Day 8 covers the hardest part of Offa’s Dyke – the ‘Switchback’  section in the Shropshire Hills. So we will be quite grateful, as we come down the final hill, to get to Panpwnton Camp Site (£4 pp), just North of Knighton on Offa’s Dyke.

Knighton is the official half way point of Offa’s Dyke.

Leg 9 – Tue 13th April – Knighton to Kington

14.2 miles – 2484 ft

After following the Dyke through hills and valleys, day 9 finishes in the centre of Kington at the Fleece Meadow Caravan and Camping site. Apparently we don’t need to book as we don’t require electric.

Leg 10 – Wed 14th April – Kington to Hay on Wye

15.2 miles – 2175 ft

From Kington we climb the Hergest Ridge, and then walk through moorland to Hay on Wye, staying at the Radnors End campsite (£5 per person), about 3/4 mile from Offa’s Dyke.

Leg 11 – Thurs 15th April – Hay on Wye to Pandy

17 miles – 2581 ft

This is the day I am most looking forward to (although it will be very hard) – Offa’s Dyke enters the Black Mountains, at the eastern side of the Brecon Beacons, passing high over the 1000ft Hatterall Ridge for almost 10 miles.

In Pandy, we will be staying at The Rising Sun (£5 pp + £1 for the dog), a campsite attached to a pub (I can’t help but feel we will be in need of beer and warm food when we come down from the Black Mountains!)

Leg 12 – Fri 16th April – Pandy to Monmouth

16 miles – 1627 ft

Our penultimate day brings us to Monmouth, the only place where I haven’t quite finalised our camp site. The Monmouth Caravan Park books up every weekend, and require a minimum stay of 2 nights, but I am waiting to hear if they will make an exception for us.

Leg 13 – Sat 17th April – Monmouth to Sedbury Hills

19.6 miles – 3654 ft

Our longest, but apparently the easiest, section of Offa’s Dyke, brings us to our finish on the Sedbury Hills.

To celebrate, we will be staying in the dog friendly hotel, The Beaufort Hotel, in Chepstow. I can’t help thinking we will sleep well

Please don’t forget we are doing this to raise money for the MS Society – you can donate at http://www.justgiving.com/offasdyke4ms

The Merry Harriers pub is down a country lane tucked away amongst the Surrey Hills near the hamlet of Hambledon near Goldalming.

Across the country lane is a fairly small camping field – we stayed in February 2010, and although the campsite has fairly basic facilities, the pub and location made this a lovely place to stay.

The camping field itself was quite boggy and waterlogged – this is probably to be expected in February, and I have stayed in worse fields in the height of British summer! Again as to be expected in February, we had the field to ourselves (other than three permanent caravans) and so could pick a dry pitch.

The site cost £9 per person per night with no extra charge for the dog (both the site and pub are dog friendly).

Other than a rubbish bin, all the facilities are across the road attached to the pub (there are no electric hookups). Around the back of the pub there is a water tap and two porta-showers (one male and one female) – unfortunately the showers weren’t working when we were there, but the pub kindly gave us a free pint to make up for it!

Male and female toilets are available when the pub is open. When the pub is closed, the male toilet is accessible 24/7, and is kept clean, with toilet roll, soap and hand sanitiser.

The pub itself is absolutely lovely, warm and welcoming – the staff were really friendly (the owners were on holiday). There was a fire burning at one end, and dogs are welcome in the bar (mine quickly curled up in front of the fire!). There is an excellent range of real ales and the food is absolutely fantastic (there is also a restaurant area) and is well priced considering the quality. The pub seems to have regular live music and every Sunday afternoon they show a family film.

A footpath and a bridleway lead from the pub out into the Surrey countryside (both joining the Greensway, which skirts Hambledon) and judging by the number of walkers and horse riders, this is a popular area. There are some great walks in the area – we explored both to the North & East, and to the South & West (both routes will appear on this site soon).

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Merry Harriers Camping Park and would definitely stay here again.

Good: Fantastic pub, gorgeous countryside, tranquil location
Bad: Basic site facilities

The tent seemed ideal, all I need to do was head into London to collect it……

The North Face Tadpole is a light (2.22k), cosy, 3-season tent. Although being quite cosy for two people, it seemed ideal for just me and my dog.  It also sounds like it is pretty quick to pitch –  an added bonus on a 12-day hike!

My friend had bought the tent for a camping trip in the Peak District – and he was very pleased with it. Reviews on the internet seem to agree:

The tent has been used in all weathers, a night in 3 foot of snow, on a hill top at minus 15 in Wales springs to mind, without fault, it certainly feels bomb proof in very strong winds when staked out belying the tag of only being a three season tent.
Song of the Paddle – North Face Tadpole 23 Review

light, easy to pitch, stable in high winds, good ventilation, extremely waterproof.
Customer review on outdoorsmagic.com

The tent also received some positive comments on Twitter, with both @documentally and @fergycool (thanks for the use of your photo) singing it’s praises.

So, last Saturday, with some excitement, I hopped onto a train to London. I don’t get to see my friend that often, so it was nice to catch up over lunch and a few drinks in the pub. After bidding farewell, I headed back to Euston, tent in hand, to catch a train back to Milton Keynes.

Initially I had a table to myself, but as the train started to fill up, I was joined by a family who had come down from the North to watch a football match, and the tent was moved into the overhead storage rack. What followed was a saga involving the family, four Virgin train staff and a frail lady who, despite having problems communicating, I suspect was more with it and capable than she appeared and didn’t want the help the well meaning family forced upon her. The family also felt the train staff should be doing more,  which they then tried to do when the lady was due to disembark at my stop. In all the confusion I left the tent on the train!

There was a lot of colourful language when I realised what had happened as I left the station (just in time to see the train disappear in the distance!). I quickly rang the Virgin Trains Lost Property number, but there isn’t anything they can do until the train is emptied at the terminating station.

I have left all my details and contacted the terminating station, who have not seen any sign of the tent. I am not holding my breath – a tent with no name tag just before Christmas is highly likely to “disappear”.

So I am still without a tent, although at least now I have more of an idea of what I might need. I am also the butt of jokes on Facebook from my so called friends!!

I am sure the saga will continue…..

I don’t really know very much about tents – I have owned three over the years, but they were all pretty much impulse buys.

I know even less about backpacking / hiking / expedition tents – I am assuming that being light and compact is important, but beyond that I haven’t got a clue!

Hopefully that is where you come in! This is an open invitation for suggestions and recommendations on what hiking tent I should get for Offa’s Dyke.

If case you are interested, my previous tents were:

• an ok 3-man tent that came in one of those “starter” camping kits from Blacks. The sleeping bags and inflatable bed were quickly discarded, but the tent lasted a couple of years (my ex-wife has it now).
• one of those pop-up tents – perfect for a 20-day driving holiday to and around Morocco I went on a few years ago. I still occasionally use it for short trips, but it isn’t ultimately very waterproof!
• my new Outwell Arizona L tent I bought in the Summer. I really like this tent and it is perfect for camping holidays around the UK (the extra height is brilliant as I am quite tall and suffer from back problems – so being able to stand up straight is great!)

However none of these tents are particularly practical for a 12-day backpacking trip Well I say that, but Karen & Popa will be using the Arizona, but they have the benefit of using the support vehicle to carry their camping equipment – Alex and I will be carrying ours!

A few weeks ago I very nearly bought a Coleman Avior X2 - it was (surprisingly enough) an impulse buy after visiting a local store and seeing it was half price as part of a winter clearance. Unfortunately the only one left in the country (in Scotland) was already reserved and was sold before they had time to ship it down to Northampton.

My requirements

My requirements for the tent are:

• suitable for all UK weather – I am unlikely to take it anywhere particularly extreme
• light – I have to carry it
• suitable size – it needs to fit me (6′3), my dog (German Shepherd) and a rucksack
• waterproof / wind proof - obviously!
• not too expensive – I obviously want to get a tent fit for purpose, but at the same time it won’t get a huge amount of use after Offa’s Dyke, so I don’t want to spend too much
• easy to put up – the quicker it is to put up the better

It’s all so confusing!

Doing some research on the internet brought up a whole host of queries:

• do I need a 4-season tent, or will 3-season be fine?
• what is the best balance between size and weight, for a few extra lbs of weight should I go slightly bigger, or will my knees tell me on day 4 that I should have gone for the lightest option?
• what is a realistic budget?
• what type of tent do I need? there seems to be so many types!

So please, any advice or suggestions to put me out of my misery will be very much appreciated!

Mena Caravan & Camping Park is a lovely, very friendly, spacious and secluded camp site situated on a hill just to the South West of Bodmin, Cornwall.

I was quite lazy when choosing this camp site – I basically did a Google search of camp sites near Bodmin and picked one of the top results – and I was not disappointed!

Best points: friendly, spacious, great for dogs & local meat
Bad points: none (honest, I really can’t think of any!)

Booking

To book, I completed their online booking form. Within a matter of hours I had an email back confirming they had space. Amazingly the email even suggested booking a single larger pitch, rather than two smaller pitches to save money – the sceptic in me thought this was so they could squeeze as many people on as possible, but on arrival there were plenty of spaces, so they were being genuinely helpful!

Both times I rang Mena – firstly to confirm the booking and pay the deposit, and secondly to double check the pitch size (after buying a new tent) – the person on the other end of the phone was very friendly and helpful.

This friendliness continued throughout our stay – the staff/owners were welcoming and always happy to chat whenever we popped into the shop.

In total the cost was £40 for two people, two tents and a dog (in high season).

The Site

The site is situated about 5 minutes from the A30, down a few narrow (but very quiet) lanes. However the position of the site means that you can’t hear any noise from the A30.

The site has 15 acres of open space, with 25 pitches (some with electric hook up). The site is broadly made up of three areas – you have a landscaped and well maintained main camping / caravan area, which is predominately flat, on top of a hill with some nice views (including over to Helman Torr, a Neolithic hill fort site). There is then a larger field slopping down hill – paths have been mowed around and through the field for dog walkers, and it makes for an excellent early morning / late evening stroll. At the bottom of the hill is a fishing pond and wooded area – dogs are allowed to swim in the pond provided no one is fishing (fishing ticket costs £3 per day per rod).

The pitches are a decent size and well spaced – there is a small play area in the middle of the site (with goal posts, basketball hoop etc.), with most of pitches around the edge.

Facilities

There are two toilet and shower blocks – both of which were clean and tidy throughout most of our stay. There was a bit of a queue for showers in the morning, but nothing too irksome, and they were hot, fairly powerful and free! One of the blocks also has laundry facilities (coin operated) and a freezer that is free to use for freezing ice blocks.

There is a small shop on site selling all the essentials – best of all the shop also sold local burgers, bacon and sausages. The sausages were extremely flavoursome and the bacon was the thickest I think I have ever seen. They also sell eggs from rescued battery hens – all the proceeds from the eggs goes on feed and on rescuing more!

Although we didn’t investigate, the site also has a large games barn with pool table and table tennis.

One other thing of note (for us geeks anyway) is that the site, being on a hill, receives excellent T-mobile 3.5g Mobile Broadband signal.

Local Area

The site is nice and close to Bodmin and Bodmin Moor – see my previous posts on walking Bodmin Moor: Minions, Stowe’s Hill (& the Cheesewring) and Kilmar Tor and King Arthur’s Hall, Brown Willy & Rough Tor from Churchtown

As the site is right next to the A30, in the centre of Cornwall, you have easy access to most main tourist destinations – the Eden Project is only 4 miles away, the National Trust’s Lanhydrock House & Gardens are 3 miles away, and the nearest Beach is 8 miles away.

Conclusion

Mena Caravan & Camping Park is a gem of a campsite and is highly recommended for anyone wanting to visit Cornwall.

Last weekend (July 2009) I stayed at Smugglers Haven / Trevelgue Holiday Park for a friend’s stag do.

As I approached the site, it occured to me that I have stayed here before – about 10 years ago with a group of friends. I can’t remember much about it – other than cooking breakfast from my tent doorway, and watching some sport event (a grand prix?) in the first pub we came to! It is safe to say that things have changed!

The first thing that surprised me was the reception – it is massive! It is a reception that Newquay airport would be envious of! Despite the huge desk, there were only two reception staff, but after a bit of wait we soon had our tent tags and a map.

Trevelgue is mainly made up of static caravans, with a bit of camping. Smugglers Haven, where I was staying, has a static caravan area and then three levels of grass for camping.

The next thing that surprised me was how crowded the camping area was – it was absolutely rammed. There was very little unused grass, and in the area where we camped, which I would consider the size of a single pitch, there were about 11 tents! Talking to one of the security guards, he told me that in very busy times, they even use all the fields (on slopes) you can see around the site.

I won’t bother doing a full review of the site – as there are plenty of reviews out there: for example on Ciao, on Review Centre and on Independent Campsite Reviews. But here are a few of my observations:

• Rubbish – everywhere! To be fair to the site, they have a lot of litter pickers, but the challenge they face is immense. Groups make no effort to remove litter – the site is strewn with beer cans, broken tents, used disposable BBQs, food wrappers etc. This of course attracts an umbelievable number of fat sea gulls and wasps!
• Toilet / shower facilities – Considering the number of people on site, there are only five showers, and these are disgusting. The toilets are beyond disgusting – simply foul! But again to be fair to the site, the toilets and showers are cleaned daily, but it doesn’t take anytime at all before they become horrible again.
• Noise – during the day there is a multitude of drum and bass and chart music pumping for cars across the site. At night, the music is replaced by screams, shouting and other drunken antics. Bear in mind the last site bus returns from Newquay around 3am! Unless you are a) drunk, b) on drugs or c) a heavy sleeper – you will not get much sleep (for the record, I was a bit of option a). If the drunks don’t wake you up, the seagulls will!
• Age – Smugglers might be “Newquay’s premier 18-30 site”, but the small print states:  ”We are able to accept groups under the age of 18, but over the age of 16, provided each group member has written consent from their parent/guardian”. Read that as – “the site is full of under age binge drinkers with nieve parents”.

A tale of two holiday parks

Despite having seperate names and seperate websites (although the similarities are obvious) – Smugglers Haven and Trevelgue Holiday Park are the same site. Sure there are two entrances, a security gate between the two (which is locked at 10pm, and manned by security during the day for pedestrian access only), and seperate toilet/shower blocks, but the vast majority of the facilities are on the Trevelgue side – the reception, shop, surf shop, swimming pool, cafe and arcade.

What I really don’t undetstand though is why any family would ever consider staying at Trevelgue? Ok, maybe during the week, or during term time, it might be ok (some of the reviews of Smugglers suggest it becomes a ghost town during the week) – but over the Summer or at a weekend?

As most of the facilities are on the family side, the site is crawling with under thirties – bear in mind the group next to us were washing down their breakfast with cans of Strongbow, you can imagine the state of some of them by the afternoon!

And the noise – unless the static caravans are soundproofed, the noise coming over from the Smugglers fence must be truely awful! During the day you have the blend of a variety of thumping music, and during the night all the drunken revelling.

Also, according to some of the reviews, the state and queues of the Smugglers toilet/shower block means that some people use the Trevelgue ones, which quickly begin to get into the same state of uncleanliness.

There is a certain type of person who would enjoy staying at this site. I am sure it is brilliant if you are into clubbing and drinking to excess and beyond with your mates, but otherwise stay well clear! Personally I hope to never stay there again (unless of course another of my friends has a stag do there!).

Newquay

Newquay has a bit of a reputation as the “ultimate” party destination in England.

“Newquay is no longer a boring seaside resort it offers so much now since this location has been put on the map! It has transformed into a place that offers extreme water sports, sunshine, great night life and girls in the skimpiest bikinis!!! Need we say more?”
Source – stagweekends.co.uk

No you don’t – and I am sure the locals just love that description.

The streets and bars at the weekend are heaving – there are a lot of underage kids out and about (although to be fair much less so in the actual venues) and a lot of very drunk people (you know – the sort that can barely eat the kebab clutched in their hands). There is a police presence, but a fraction of what can be seen on Broadstreet in Birmingham. The atmosphere is also very moody – not threatening, just moody. As we walked past one of the town’s strip clubs, I watched as someone was ejected, thrown against a wall by a bouncer, who then had to be pulled back by a colleague before he went further.

Newquay is a hugely popular for post-exam / end of term parties and it is not surprising that there are calls for Newquay to revamp it’s image – made after the tragic deaths of two teenages. A spokesperson for the Devon and Cornwall Police stated:

“Newquay is a safe place as long as you come here with a degree of common sense and a degree of responsibility.”
Source – BBC website

There are enough adults without the necessary common sense and responsibility, let alone teenagers high on the euphoria of completing exams chucked into a environment of partying and drinking to excess without any adult supervision.

Obviously being on a stag do, I didn’t get to see much of Newquay other than the town centre. On Twitter, @ignashus enjoyed Newquay on the same weekend, although they sensibly avoided the town centre. Just looking at the photos of Newquay on wikipedia, it seems like it has more to offer than just a party destination – I think I agree with Chief Superintendent Elaine Marshall:

“Newquay has enormous potential, with its great beaches and holiday facilities, especially in the current economic climate. Unfortunately its image has been tarnished and we need to work quickly to re-market it as a safe place to visit.”
Source – BBC website

Good luck Newquay!

The walk has the following highlights: Castle Ring, RAF Hednesford, Katyn Memorial, Glacial Boulder, Sherbrook Valley, Shugborough Park, Essex Bridge, and Wolseley Arms.

Click here to view the route on the OS Explorer website

When I sat down and planned this walk, I tried to encompass as many interesting parts of the Chase as I could – the one thing I could not fit in was the Castle Ring (map 1), so after popping into the visitor’s centre, I took the dogs up to the Castle Ring to give them a chance to stretch their legs before heading to the camp site.

The Castle Ring is an iron age hill fort situated on the highest point of Cannock Chase – 244m above sea level. The fort is believed to have been occupied around 50 AD by the Celtic Cornovii tribe. You can still see the perimeter earthworks, but not much else, although there are some fantastic views across the Chase and the Trent Valley (including a lovely power station).

Whilst at the visitor centre, I picked up a copy of “Exploring Cannock Chase” by John Roberts. This book has lots of useful information about Cannock Chase, and contains nine linked walks crossing throughout the chase – these walks are 5-6 miles long and might be of interest for people for prefer shorter walks.

It turns out there was a CaniX dog running event on the Sunday, so the campsite was full of dogs – fortunately both dogs were fairly well behaved…. after a fairly uneventful night with me and both dogs crammed into a small pop-up tent, and a hearty cooked breakfast, I headed off into the forest.

The first part of the walk follows the Heart of England Way westwards through the forest (map 2). Cannock Chase is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – a mixture of natural deciduous woodland, coniferous plantations, open heathland and the remains of early industry. Follow the Heart of England Way through the managed forest and past Seven Springs. Carefully cross the main road and the railway (map 3), and follow what seems to be an old road up the hill.

As you follow the track (Kit Bag Hill), on the left hand side through the trees you will start to see the remains of RAF Hednesford, the No. 6 School of Technical Training. Here several thousand men (and a few women) completed their basic training, focused on the maintenance of the air frames and engines of the RAF planes. Under a different title the camp continued until the end of 1956.

I had hoped to avoid the “running with dogs” runners, as although both Rolo and Angel generally well behaved, they can be a bit annoying on the lead (Rolo wants to play, which sets off Angel growling – and noone wants a German Shepherd growling near their previous dog!). Unfortunately I met them whilst they were having their briefing in the middle of the path!!

After eventually making it through all the dogs, we continued following the well marked path. The route starts leaving the trees and entering the heathland (map 4). A large proportion of the Chase is owned by the Forestry Commission who, until recently, were tasked with producing timber commercially – hence the huge managed areas of Scots and Corsican pine, were the tress are planted very close together. Nowadays leisure is also a key task of the Forestry Commission and over time more of the heathland is being recovered. A scheme “Saving Cannock Chase” is trying to drive this forward.

Just before the Heart of England Way turns sharply northwards, you reach the Katyn Memorial (map 5), which commemorates 14,000 Polish soldiers and professional people murdered in the Katyn Forest in 1940 on the orders of Soviet authorities. For anyone who wants further information, Wikipedia has a huge amount of information on the massacre and this site has a lot of information on British documents regarding the tragic events. The memorial is a very moving place to visit.

From the Katyn Memorial, continue to follow the Heart of England Way, this time heading north through heathland, to the Glacial Boulder (map 6). The heathland feels like a completely different place to the forest areas – you are unprotected from the weather and, despite it’s fairly small size, you start to feel like you are lost in the wilderness. The Glacial Boulder, weighing about 2.5 tonnes, is disappointingly small – it marks the southern limit of the northern ice sheet that carried the boulder from Criffel in southern Scotland to Cannock Chase.

After a photo opportunity at the trig point next to the Boulder, rejoin the Heart of England way – look out for a crossroads where the way crosses the Staffordshire Way, at which point turn right onto the Staffordshire Way. The route is extremely pleasant as it drops down into Sherbrook Valley (map 7), back into the tress, and follows the river. Follow the route, past the Stepping Stones (map 8), take the right turn around Harts Hill until you reach the main road. The next stage really annoyed me – despite being a national route, you then have to walk along the verge of a major and very busy road for about 1km before finding a pavement to walk on – outrageous and very dangerous with two stupid dogs!

Take the first footpath on the left into Shugborough Park (map 9), a rare survival of a complete estate, with all major buildings including mansion house, servants’ quarters, model farm and walled garden. Unfortunately, with the dogs, it wasn’t possible to visit any of the buildings, so I was stuck following the tarmac path through the park. The following story amused me:

“The deep cutting and the grand, classical tunnel portico were demanded by the landowner, the Earl of Anglesey, to protect his Shugborough Hall from the vulgarities of steam travel.” – Exploring Cannock Chase by John Roberts

At the far side of the estate, cross the Essex Bridge (map 10)- a Grade 1 listed packhorse bridge over the River Trent, despite being the longest surviving packhorse bridge, it is a fraction of it’s original size – only 14 of the original 40 span arches survive! The bridge was built in 1550 by the then Earl of Essex for Queen Elizabeth I.

On the other bank, bear right and start following the Trent and Mersey Canal. Now with hindsight, I would have tried to find the pub in Little Haywood, but instead I trekked further down the canal to the Wolseley Arms (map 11). The pub is a destination food pub, and was extremely busy, however the food was lovely – I shared a huge plate of roast beef and vegetables with the dogs.

Trek back along the canal, and head down the road at Little Haywood back towards the chase. Cross the road to Seven Springs (map 12)- At this point I would recommend (ideally with GPS, but compasses still work ) exploring this area, rather than following the popular paths. You need to get to Rifle Range Corner (map 13), pretty much directly South – I tried to avoid the danger area, as I wasn’t sure their current status. There are plenty of tracks you can follow – I had the amazing experience of rounding a corner to find a herd of deer cross the path!

At this stage my feet started hurting quite badly, so please excuse the rushed description as I can’t remember too many details! From Rifle Range Corner, cross the road into what is probably a very busy car park in peak season. Rather than cutting back down to the Heart of England Way, I again followed some smaller paths – past Fairoak Lodge, down to the Stonybrook Pools (map 14) (watch out for the cross country bikers) to Smart’s Buildings. Cross the road, follow the footpath and eventually rejoin the Heart of England Way – retrace your steps back to the campsite (map 15).

Except for my feet, I thoroughly enjoyed my walk on Cannock Chase – I imagine it would also feel like a different place in the Summer (albeit very busy). The one thing that really struck me was the huge variety of users, from dog walkers / runners, walkers, families, horses, cycles, mountain bikers etc – it really shows how different user groups can really enjoy an area together. Perhaps the only absence was (sensible) off-roading, as I believe that due to misuse all the off-road routes have been closed – and you can easily spot the existing evidence of illegal off-roading (the minority again letting the side down).

Click here to view the route on the OS Explore website

I won’t go through the route in detail, as it was only an little explore rather than a full on walk. Here are a few photos:

I hope to come back soon for a longer walk, as the chase was fantastic – heather, trees and some great walks!

We stayed in the The Camping and Caravanning Club camp site right in the centre of Cannock Chase – I can definitely recommend it. The site managers were very friendly, and the site was in a brilliant location – the dog walk is straight onto Cannock Chase! Fortunately we invested in some new, 2/3 season, sleeping bags as the weather was less than perfect for camping!